


we walk through the fire

by shiranuigenma



Category: Naruto, Naruto Shippuden
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Day 1: Too Hot, Day 3: On the Battlefield, Established Relationship, M/M, MadaTobi Week 2018, THERE ARE NO HAPPY ENDINGS HERE, oops i angsted again
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2019-06-20 00:29:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15522084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shiranuigenma/pseuds/shiranuigenma
Summary: Around them, the village is burning,





	we walk through the fire

**Author's Note:**

> SURPRISE! I decided to jump in on the fun and contribute to MadaTobi week. This is my first foray into writing this ship, I hope I did them justice!
> 
> I won't have time to do all the prompts what with work and my upcoming vacation, so consider this first piece as my contribution for both Day 1: Too Hot (though a rather loose interpretation of the prompt), and Day 3: On the battlefield.
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

Everything is burning.

The fire of war that has been boiling hot and fierce beneath Tobirama's skin begins to fade to a simmer as he walks through the heat of the quiet battlefield, sharp eyes taking in every scorched tree and charred corpse, searching for the man responsible.

He finds him in the middle of the carnage, a triumphant figure backed by a wall of flames and billowing black smoke. For the amount of chakra he has used, Madara looks no worse for wear, but over the years Tobirama has become fine-tuned to his subtleties, the microscopic nuances of his body language that betray his exhaustion - despite appearances, he is ready to drop.

Tobirama thinks that perhaps the only thing keeping him standing is stubborn pride, and gods know that is something Madara has in spades.

"Do you see it now, Tobirama?" The Uchiha bares his bloodstained teeth in some savage semblance of a smile when he sees Tobirama approaching, raising his arms out at his sides. Backlit by the burning ruins of the village, the insanity Tobirama had tried so desperately to ignore is on clear display. "I told you! Together we are unstoppable!"

The flurry of emotions Tobirama feels at that small but significant statement is unsettling. Confusion. Anger. Revulsion. Disbelief. Everything he had forgotten how to feel for the Uchiha comes raging to the surface at the sight of his Sharingan, wild scarlet gaze flickering in every direction as he takes in the destruction he has caused. He can’t help but think about how different this is to the last time he had seen those eyes.

The last time, they had been filled with an impossible warmth, an affection he had not bothered to try and disguise. It is obvious that none of that exists here - there is only the fire, the fury of an Uchiha who has lost himself to the madness of his clan.

 _It was all for naught_ , Tobirama thinks bitterly as he observes his mad lover, an overwhelming sensation of defeat and despair settling heavy in his chest. Everything he had ever done to keep Madara from the darkness had been in vain.

Turning his head, Tobirama surveys the ruins of the village, eyes narrowed. The only chakra he senses is faint, the last flickering vestiges of a life about to end. They're all dead, every last man, woman, and child destroyed in one sickening display of overwhelming power. This was never the mission. Madara has gone too far, and Tobirama understands now what he must do. If he's being honest, some part of him had always known that it would come to this.

Perhaps it's better this way. Perhaps they'll have better luck in the afterlife.

Things had been different once. Vivid memories rise to the surface as he closes the distance between them, memories of the bed they had shared, a time when they had been too lost in each other to remember how to breathe, when they were entirely consumed by what they both knew they should not want. Things had been simpler then - as simple as they could be between the two of them, given their history, and he desperately wishes he could turn back the hands of time and return to that, but he knows that it is impossible.

It's too late. Madara is too far gone.

"I am sorry, Madara." His voice is quiet, barely a whisper that disappears amidst the sound of the crackling flames and Madara's wild laughter, and it's almost enough to disguise the way his voice breaks as he draws his sword. He had never wanted this, but he had sworn an oath. He has no choice.

When Madara's wide, surprised eyes meet his, his Sharingan has faded, chakra too low to maintain it now. Blood gurgles in his throat, dripping down his chin as he tries to form words - nothing comes out but a choked sigh, and Tobirama catches him as he slumps forward, lowering him carefully to the ground. An aching, desperate _anguish_  seeps into the spaces between his ribs, tightening around his heart like a vice.

"I-" He doesn't know what to say - or, rather, how to say it. _I wish things were different. I wish I could have done more. I wish I could have saved you._  The words burn on the tip of his tongue, but he can't bring himself to speak. It has always been this way - when it comes to Madara, words have never come easy. Just one more thing he wishes could have been different, one more thing he regrets.

There is a lump forming in his throat, and he coughs as if that would help dislodge it. Blood spatters across the front of Madara's shirt.

"I... I see." Madara's gaze lowers to the blood that is beginning to spread across Tobirama's chest. "You..."

"I made a promise to Hashirama," Tobirama says quietly, pulling the sword buried in Madara's back from their bodies with one hand, his grip tightening on Madara with the other when the Uchiha takes a shuddering breath. "To save him the suffering of having to kill his friend, I swore that if you ever reached a point beyond saving, I would end you myself - no matter the personal cost." He takes his own ragged breath - with intervention, his own wound would not be fatal, but he knows he will not reach help in time. He will die here with Madara, the man he had once thought himself incapable of feeling anything but hatred for, but had instead learned to love. "I..." _I was careless. I let emotion get the better of me._  "I ignored the signs for too long, Madara. If I had done something sooner..." _If I had done something sooner, maybe it wouldn't have come to this. I should have tried harder._

He has nothing left to say - nothing he can say, anyway. The words he has never been able to tell Madara die on his lips, and he bows his head, allowing his mind to take him back to their bed; one last, joyful moment before death takes them and they are lost to the fire.

Tobirama closes his eyes and breathes another apology, a silent _I loved you_ , a promise that he will not let Madara die alone.

Around them, everything is burning, even as the fire of Madara's chakra fades... and then disappears.

**Author's Note:**

>  _Naruto_ and all recognizable characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Title belongs to the Zayde Wolf ft. Ruelle song of the same name.


End file.
